At least they're called 'Mayor'

Except for Carbondale, mayors exist only in boroughs. Their pay is low, and their official duties limited, though many do a whole lot more than just oversee police departments and break ties in borough council votes.

Borough mayors often go unnoticed, except when something goes wrong.

Just ask Old Forge Mayor Michele Avvisato, who has had to deal with the fallout of the arrests of Police Chief Larry Semenza and Capt. Jamie Krenitsky, and Duryea Mayor Keith Moss, who took a lot of criticism for the way the borough responded during flooding a couple of years back.

Ms. Avvisato decided against running again. Mr. Moss, who greeted Vice President Joe Biden during the last flood's aftermath, is running and actually has no Democratic or Republican opposition.

Clearly, borough mayor is a thankless job and people know it.

Mr. Moss is in Luzerne County, but quite a few Lackawanna County mayors running for re-election are unopposed, too.

In Mayfield, it seems like Alexander Chelik has been there forever, even though his tenure was interrupted by a council stint. In Dunmore, Patrick "Nibs" Loughney appears ready to remain mayor for life. In Clarks Green, William Thorburn is a fixture and Jeanette Acciare-Mariani in Blakely, Beverly Valvano Merkel in Jessup and Joseph Brady in Vandling are on the way to that. In Moscow, can anybody remember a time Daniel Edwards wasn't the mayor? In Moosic, the Segilias continue their run with son James Segilia picking up where his beloved father, the late John Segilia, left off.

In Jermyn, they like Bruce Smallacombe so much the council appointed him mayor again after he got done being a county commissioner.

By the way, one of these years, we're going to get to the annual Jermyn Christmas party, where Mr. Smallacombe sings. Heard it's a good time.

The rookie among the incumbents is Dalton's Aaron Holzman, who got the job only in January, replacing James Gray, who resigned. A Republican, Mr. Holzman is seeking his own term unopposed on either ballot.

In Olyphant, Jayme Morano is leaving, and the only person who wants the job is Democrat John Sedlak Jr.

In Scranton, considering the city's financial troubles, you might think anyone who runs for mayor ought to have his or her head examined, but we have six candidates.

At least Scranton's mayor gets paid $50,000 a year.

The pay for borough mayors varies, but generally it's a few thousand dollars, much of which gets chewed up by people always putting the touch on mayors to contribute to worthy local causes.

None of the drawbacks seem to matter when vacancies turn up.

In Archbald, where incumbent Ed Fairbrother is hanging it up, three Democratic candidates want the job, including David Moran, who ran strongly but lost in 2009, Larry West, the aide to state Sen. John Blake, and Councilwoman Shirley Grabin Barrett, a co-owner of the popular tavern there.

In Clarks Summit, incumbent Harry Kelly decided against a third term, and Democratic council members Herman Johnson and Patty Lawler want to replace him.

In Dickson City, incumbent Anthony Zaleski is moving on, and council Vice President Stanley J. Prushinski and Kimberlee Midura, both Democrats, are running.

The Downvalley has the only boroughs with competitive races on both ballots.

In Old Forge, former School Director Frank Scavo and political activist Joe Gasdik are on the Republican ballot, although Mr. Gasdik recently declared his support for Mr. Scavo. On the Democratic side, it's Robert Legg and Bob Mulkerin.

- The union that represents the people who work in the state's liquor stores plans is spending heavily on television advertising to oppose Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to privatize the stores.

The ad says the administration's "reckless scheme will put alcohol on every street corner and increase crime."

It was supposed to start airing statewide on Friday. The union plans to spend $1 million or more.

- Just in case you missed U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright recently on "The Colbert Report," you can find a video of his appearance on www.colbertnation.com. Mr. Cartwright also joined Chris Matthews on "Hardball."

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